Never Bored

“That's right,' she told the girls. 'You are bored. And I'm going to let you in on a little secret about life. You think it's boring now? Well, it only gets more boring. The sooner you learn it's on you to make life interesting, the better off you'll be.” ― Maria Semple, Where'd You Go, Bernadette

I feel like I can officially declare it autumn here on Vancouver Island. I've put away the shorts and the sandals and brought out boots and sweaters and hats. I grieve not, for I am a long-time lover of autumn. I prefer bundling up instead of dripping sweat and piling on warm clothes instead of peeling off t-shirts stuck to my back. And the colours are always, always the best in autumn:

I've been trying hard not to get distracted by the newest acquisitions of yarn in my stash. I am a compulsive shopper strong supporter of yarn stores and more particularly of small, independent yarn stores of late, and have consequently built up an impressive stash that may or may not live in separate collections throughout my house. I will not confirm or deny this fact.

I finally decided to make something with this lovely thick and thin alpaca blend yarn acquired from a trip to Sweden a few years ago. It is called BC Garn Alpaca Flamé which is a blend of alpaca, wool, acrylic, and a bit of polyester. I have been both charmed and intimidated by its texture since I purchased it, and was perhaps more so once I got it onto my swift to wind it into a cake. Some parts appear so thin that it could snap if I looked at it the wrong way, while some parts appear so under-twisted that it looks like it would drift apart with a puff of breath. I was surprised how robust it was as I was winding it, possibly because of the strength provided by the acrylic and polyester added to the blend. It took the tension from the winder pulling it from the swift quite well:

Despite this, I wanted to find a pattern that would be easy to fix if I made a mistake because I didn’t want to subject this yarn to ripping out multiple times. I’m usually fascinated by intricate patterns, finely detailed stitches, delicate lace, and complex cables. This is one of the few times that I have allowed myself to sit back and let the yarn do the talking. I spend a long time thinking about it and searching for something that would work, and it was interesting how distracted I became with more complicated patterns. I eventually settled on Melody's Shawl by Melody Moore, which is a simple shawl/scarf pattern but has a unique finish to it at the end where you drop a bunch of stitches and cut them to make a fringe. 

Cut? What? Cut your knitting, you gasp? Well, yes. It will be fine. I am becoming more and more fascinated by cutting dropped stitches, steeking, and sewing knitted fabrics together. I think I might even employ a twisted fringe as used in the weaving world to consolidate the strands at the end, we shall see how I feel about it at the end.

For now, I am mesmerized by the texture of this fabric. It makes me think of some woven fabric wall art I saw a while ago which used different weights of yarns in its warp and weft. One of these days I will delve into the world of weaving, but this is a nice way to daydream of it for now:

So while I am pleased to be using up some of this long-stashed yarn, an impromptu stop at a yarn shop might have created a bit of a distraction:

I mean, at least I bought two skeins instead of just getting one and then stressing about whether I have enough to make anything out of it. And I've already been daydreaming about combining it with some more white/cream-coloured yarn in my stash and experimenting with Fair Isle knitting and steeking. I might queue it up for sometime later this winter... or whenever I get through the pile of other projects percolating in my head...

I know, I fail at yarn diets, but I figure it's not the worst problem I could have. At least I will never be bored... though I read an article recently about how allowing yourself to become bored is the best thing for your creativity. It's the reason I try not to reach for my phone to mindlessly play Spider Solitaire in those little "nothing gaps" in my day. 

But just so you know: I am EXCELLENT at Spider Solitaire.

Anyway, back to dinner and knitting and sitting under cozy blankets. So glad to see you, Autumn.

Have a great week!